From the Guardian:When a male newsreader gets older, he becomes an authority; when a female newsreader gets older, she becomes a problem. Harriet Harman, equalities minister, says she heard this gem from a former senior executive at the Beeb. It's probably true, but hopefully it won't be for much longer. Last September, the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, decided that the real problem was not enough older women on the telly – and urged his news chiefs to employ more of them. Suddenly, from being a problem, 50-something women news anchors were in demand.
Now four of them are back in jobs. Just before Christmas, the BBC confirmed the appointments of Julia Somerville, Zeinab Badawi, Fiona Armstrong and Carole Walker . But why hadn't news bosses realised sooner that older women were perfect as news anchors? In many cultures, after all, older women are seen as the fount of wisdom and authority — who could be better for a job that requires lashings of both?
So will this be a flash in the pan? Or might this be a real change? I think it really could. Not only is it cheering that the BBC's head of news, Helen Boaden is herself, wait for it, a 50-something, but when you look Stateside you see a TV landscape in which older women news anchors have every bit as much status as older men (and a lot more, given their experience, than younger women).
From the Times Online:A BBC News presenter claims that she has been forced to move to Beijing to escape the corporation’s ingrained “culture of ageism”.
Discarded BBC stars such as Moira Stuart could follow the example of Susan Osman, 51, a BBC News Channel presenter, who announced that she was to take over a leading programme in China.
Osman has worked in broadcasting for 28 years, presenting bulletins on BBC World and reporting for ITN News. She fronted the Bristol-based Points West on BBC One for 14 years.
But she claimed that her age had become an insurmountable barrier in Britain. She has accepted a job hosting a prime-time breakfast show on China Radio International and is moving to Beijing.
Ms Osman said: “There seems to be a culture of ageism in broadcasting in this country, and it particularly affects women.”
The freelance presenter had been for a series of auditions for BBC jobs and been told she was “marvellous”. But she was consistently overlooked, without explanation.
While British women face ageism in broadcasting when they reached their 40s, their longevity is an asset in Asia. “In China they revere experience,” she said. “The older you are the better. I got the impression that my future boss actually wanted me to be older when I finally told him my age during the interview.”
From Urmee Khan @ the Telegraph:Mark Thompson, the Director General of the BBC, has promised to put more older women on television following the backlash after axing Arlene Phillips from Strictly Come Dancing.
Thousands of viewers complained to the broadcaster about perceived ‘ageism’ as 30 year old Alesha Dixon, a pop star who won the competition in 2007, was brought in.
BBC One recently bought back Anne Robinson, 64, as the host of consumer programme Watchdog and Jay Hunt, the controller of BBC One, said that Victoria Wood would be returning to present a one hour Christmas special.
Television insiders have speculated that names such as Moira Stewart, Kate Adie, and Sheila Hancock could suddenly be in the mix.
